JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 1 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW Legal Services January 8, 2013
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 2 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW The Vision • Expand the use of the County Solicitor by Municipalities, the independent EMS Corporation and the independent Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus Inc. • Provide equivalent or improved services compared to services Municipalities receive when hiring private law firms… • At a rate less than the $400-$600 per hour charged by such firms = cost savings • Municipalities maintain existing decision making www.middlesex.ca authority and responsibilities
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 3 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW How? • The County Solicitor is a specialist in municipal law, planning and development law, commercial litigation and tribunal work • The County Solicitor has been successful against the caliper of counsel routinely retained by municipalities when he was in private practice, as Solicitor for the City of Cambridge and now as the County Solicitor • The County allows the County Solicitor to be retained by Municipalities at the County Solicitor’s cost to the County, as opposed to $400-$600 per hour plus travel and disbursements • Use of County Solicitor does not need to be exclusive - www.middlesex.ca can co-exist with use of other legal counsel
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 4 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW How cont… • The County Solicitor is retained by the County at all times and owes a duty to the County at all times • Law Society Rules allow lawyers to be retained by more than one client if there is no conflict and the parties consent to the joint retainer • If retained by a Municipality and conflict develops, the County Solicitor may need to www.middlesex.ca withdraw for one or both clients
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 5 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW Examples of Legal Advice Already Provided to Independent Entities • Legal Advice re: Legal Non-Conforming Uses and Building Code Issues • How to expand/improve by-law enforcement • Successful resolutions between by-law violators and Municipalities, aimed to achieve permanent solutions on the ground for Municipalities • Contract drafting/review www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 6 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW Examples of Services Already Provided to Independent Entities • Planning and development advice, including avoidance of an expensive OMB Hearing • General legal advice re issues encountered on a daily basis Value Added Service • Legal Advice is available at affordable cost often BEFORE the matter becomes a legal emergency, which the point when a legal firm is generally retained • = Value, for legal emergency may be able to be prevented www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 7 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW What are the Challenges? • Consent and Privilege Agreements need to be signed • The individual from the Municipality seeking advice is still retaining counsel and incurring fees… • Meaning the individual from the Municipality requires the same authority as he/she would otherwise require to retain counsel (whether that authority be a one time Council approval or general delegated authority) • Municipal Staff to do all the work on the file that they are able to do and avoid temptation of having County Solicitor perform functions that municipal staff can complete www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 8 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW What are the Challenges? • Municipal Staff to ask appropriate legal questions as they arise and take the file back for further work by staff where appropriate • Municipal staff to provide as much notice as possible to County Solicitor and avoid grenade (with pin out) delivery of files whenever possible • Municipal staff to provide all relevant information to County Council, avoiding negative surprises for County Solicitor www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 9 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW What are the Challenges? • County Solicitor is one individual and has County responsibilities • Will not be able to work on every matter and/or prosecution for every Municipality • Municipalities may have contracts with City of London and/or paralegals, which need to be identified • A balance of which types of files are provided to County Solicitor and which are not will need to develop as the model progresses www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 10 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW Moving Forward • CAOs have been advised of the availability of Legal Services to their Municipalities • But Legal Services being available to Municipalities is still in its preliminary stages • Exactly how much and which type of work Legal Services will or should perform is a work in progress • Would be nice if use of Legal Services could expand further into Planning, Engineering and Contractual matters of Municipalities where there are no conflicts • Relationships between County Solicitor and staff of municipalities need to continue to develop www.middlesex.ca
JANUARY 8, 2013 Page 11 of 11 11 A. 1 - CW Questions
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